Justice Is Done This Day
by bogus1
Summary: The ex-Archangel of Justice Tyrael is introduced to the Golden Trio. He sees Harry Potter and he is not impressed. He sees Hermione Granger and he is not impressed. He sees Ronald Weasley and he is finally impressed. Just not in a positive way. Warning: character deaths. Yay character deaths!
1. Justice Is Done This Day

The no-longer Archangel Tyrael looked around to find himself in a train car. Well, he might as well find a seat somewhere to sit down. His Fall had been brutal and he still felt pains all over his body. Perhaps somewhere private.

He walked down the train car until he encountered a blonde girl who just stood there tilting her head at him. He started staring at her, thinking of intimidating her into moving aside, but she just stared right back, unself-consciously.

"Aren't you missing some wings?" she asked the striking bald-headed black-skinned being masquerading as an adolescent. He was wearing a very impressive set of steel armour.

Tyrael was startled, but not for long. He smiled at meeting one of Heaven's own children walking the Earth. A most auspicious sign.

"And what is your name child?"

"Luna, Luna Lovegood." she told him, and from her smile and her gaze he knew her for a Dreamer.

"Well met Luna, my name is Tyrael."

They stayed motionless looking at each other for endless moments, happy and relieved to have met each other.

Then suddenly she declared "I think you're supposed to meet him." before turning around and moving away without a look backwards. He smiled bemused, not knowing whom she might be speaking of, and hurried on to follow her.

Tyrael followed Luna all along the train. Past one carriage then another. Finally they came upon a carriage whose compartments Luna started inspecting, obviously searching for something. She must have found what she was looking for because she opened a door and stared inside for a minute. He stared at her while presumably the compartment's occupants were similarly staring at her.

His sharp ears heard a voice exclaim "Oh that's just Loony Lovegood." Tyrael frowned. That wasn't her proper name. Was it some manner of nickname or insult? Luna was already a short enough name and symbolic enough. The tone was dismissive, not affectionate. An insult then. His lips pursed. Who dared insult a Dreamer?

Luna stepped aside then and bid him come. She introduced them to him.

"Tyrael, this is Harry Potter. They say he defeated a Dark Lord. I don't know who his friend is. And that's Ron Weasley." she said pointing to the cowering child, the defiant one, and the scowling one in turn. He started judging their facial expressions, their body language, their positions, determining their character. Yet the more he stared with his blank face and in utter silence at the cowering boy-child while his friend introduced herself (Hermione Granger), the more the child hunched over into himself.

This, this cowering hunched-over Slave had defeated a Dark Lord? Well, Tyrael was wise to the ways of Humanity. He'd walked the Worlds amongst mortals for long eons. He knew children were often submissive, rarely did they know their own souls before 200 years of age, or was that 20? Well, fully grown at any rate. This boy was but a child. Though ... Tyrael's head swiveled silently to Luna and he frowned. Luna was a Dreamer and assertive. Allowing for the boy's seated position and his hunched over posture, he was probably as tall as Luna. The same age then.

Well, no matter. So the boy was a Slave, so what? It wouldn't be the first one Tyrael had seen. He'd seen grown men as Slaves. Thousands, perhaps millions by now. A Slave child had defeated a Dark Lord, that was interesting. Unusual. Yet he'd heard of stranger things. He'd witnessed stranger still. Perhaps the Slave's good masters had ordered him to kill the Dark Lord. Children were small and could get into places adults could not. Slaves often went around unnoticed by their arrogant superiors. Even child Slaves could be skilled, dangerous, deadly. So long as his companions were Good, he would serve Goodness.

The girl child had kept up a nervous chatter. Her manner was pushy, defensive, protective. Hmm. But also submissive, unsure of herself, of no account because not self-directed. He recognized a Minion. From her questions, perhaps even a Bureaucrat, a pyramid-builder, a slavish believer in hierarchical authority. No, this one could not be the Slave's ultimate master. She had no will of her own, no self-direction, she knew not her own soul. Tyrael dismissed her and turned his head to the last occupant of the compartment.

The pouting boy perked up, the one who'd been scowling, he enjoyed attention. Tyrael's face hardened to stone. Oh and look, the scowl was back, defiant at negative attention, unwilling to accept any criticism upon himself. A narcissist. Perhaps it was youth? But Tyrael knew children started revealing their nature as soon as they were waist-high. The Evil One was far taller than that, was the tallest of the lot. Passive. Avoidant. A Hedonist. Tyrael could smell the slob's sweat. This was the Slave's master? The master of the slayer of the Dark Lord was an Evil One? This could not be borne. Tyrael's hand shot out like a viper and he grasped the Evil One's throat and started squeezing.

The Slave and the Minion were stunned, not so the Evil One whose survival instincts had kicked in. The Abomination's right hand went around Tyrael's, trying to pry his off. Ineffectual. Its left went into a pocket and pulled out a wand, a weapon. Tyrael reached across his body with his left hand. The position was very awkward, the leverage poor, it wasn't his dominant hand, yet he still had strength enough to snap the Swine's forearm. The sharp crack was heard by everyone in the compartment and arrested the Slave's and Minion's movements. The Minion, Hermione started pleading all in a rush,

"Please, you're hurting him. You broke his arm. You can't do this."

Tyrael turned to face the girl, Hermione, fully all while strangling the Evil One with his arm outstretched. Out of the corner of his left eye, he could see the Slave looking to the girl for guidance, for orders. The Slave wouldn't do anything on his own, of his own volition. Dark Lord slayer or not, deadly or not, he was irrelevant without orders. "Do you not recognize a Hedonist, child? A swine? An Evil One?"

"But, that's just Ron! He isn't evil! Oh a swine, I guess he is that. Well, his manners are poor, I don't think his mother ever taught him. But he's not evil! He just gets jealous and angry sometimes."

Tyrael was most displeased by the ignorance of the girl. But then, she had been keeping company with It, so he wasn't exactly surprised.

"A Swine, child. A Hedonist, thinking only of its own physical pleasure and pain. A narcissist incapable of empathy, thinking only of itself, with no comprehension or understanding of others. Is any of this familiar to you? Do you recognize any of it?"

"Well, he's just a boy. He'll grow out of it. He's our friend. And you're killing him!" she beseeched him while pulling gently but frantically on his steel-like arm. Tyrael heard her excuses and knew she had no arguments, no facts, no defense for the Evil One. She'd given up and had condemned It thereby. Now he just had to get her to see Reason and admit the truth, condone the Sentence.

"A friend to you, child? Narcissists have no friends." but he wasn't getting through to her at all. Children needed to be taught, he knew that. Change of plans. Yes, she was touching him, perfect. And she respected authority, even better. He would share with her one of his Memories. Of his Fall, of Commitment, of Willpower, of Sacrifice.

And suddenly Hermione Granger saw a FLASH and she was Elsewhere. Had she been teleported? Apparated? She was standing inside of a gleaming shining white-grey tower. Everything stone and light. More magical than Hogwarts' Great Hall! And there prostrated before her was a massive suit of gleaming steel armour, with only darkness in it, and as it was rising she gulped. Because there before her was a Lord of Angels, an Archangel. She could see the crown upon its head, the wings made of light and fire. She tried to move but couldn't, she could FEEL herself SPEAK:

"You cannot judge ME. I am JUSTICE itself! We were meant for more than this. To protect Goodness and smite Evil." and then drawling "But if our precious laws bind you all to in-action ... then I will no longer stand as your brother!"

Harry had been waiting, every muscle in his body tense, ready to pounce, staring intently at Hermione staring blankly into nothing. THWACK, a great clash of metal breaking could be heard coming from nowhere and both his and Hermione's bodies were thrown back against their seats, away from Tyrael who still had his fist around Ron's throat, slowly choking him.

"He chose. To be one of us." Luna's eerie voice told him.

Hermione heard her and she knew, she knew the impossible truth. But she still needed to know, to know more, to know everything. Her right hand reached out to push Harry back while her left reached out to touch Tyrael again. And suddenly, the Vision was upon her again. She could feel her arms struggle mightily with her breastplate, tearing it apart. She could feel the roar coming out of her own throat. And from in front of her, from the Archangel she heard denunciation,

"Sacrilege."

then there was a great tearing like her body was being pulled apart, her back felt like it was torn open. Why would she be doing this to herself? She heard a shockwave and a great thump upon the floor. Then a gale started blowing against her burning back and she could see her hands disintegrating. And through her disintegrating hands she saw tentacles of light reaching out from the floor, wrapping themselves around her, pulling her under. And she was burning, she was on FIRE.

And then Hermione started screaming and screaming. Harry pulled her away from the stranger, unheeding of Ron's fate, and she curled up into a ball against him while sobbing. He stiffened up then tentatively put his arm around her and patted her back, scared. Ron's face was all red and his movements were getting slower, jerky, spastic. Ron was dying. Finally Hermione was visibly pulling herself together, she'd tell him what to do.

"Hermione, Ron's dying."

"Let him die, Harry. Justice is done this day."

"Hermione, he's my first friend."

"Nobody is any good at anything on their first try, Harry. You heard what the Angel said, Ron was no friend of ours. He had no friends."

"What Angel, Hermione? What are you talking about?"

"The Angel Tyrael, Harry. The Angel killing Ron."

Harry was stunned, frozen. Maybe this is what shock felt like? It didn't feel like anything really. Hermione was facing him, clinging to him, refusing to watch Ron die. Harry was transfixed. He watched Ron's movements become still, he watched his glazed eyes stare sightlessly, he watched Ron's face become pale. He watched Ron die. And still Tyrael was holding him, was strangling him.

Harry watched Ron's corpse feeling bereft. He turned to Tyrael and asked resentfully "What now?"

"Now we get rid of the body. Let that be a lesson to you Harry, just because you engage in mass murder doesn't mean you have to be stupid about it. Rather than boasting about your kills like the Evil Ones do, you clean up after yourself so you can do more of them. Come on you three, real life isn't like some video game or TV show where Abominations' bodies dissolve all by themselves. It takes hydrochloric acid to do that."

"You're not going to get away with this." Hermione said.

Tyrael just stared at her while lifting an eyebrow.

"I mean, they've got Veritaserum and Legilimancy. Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore? He's on my list. One of the major Evils of this World. Is anyone else capable of mind reading?"

"Dumble-dumbled-" Hermione started stuttering, unable to get the name out through her shock.

"Dumbledore the Decider, next of kin to a Dark Lord, he is on my list yes." Tyrael repeated kindly urging her on.

"Of-of Evil people?"

Tyrael nodded his head solemnly.

"Oh, I guess that just solves everything." then she started laughing hysterically.

* * *

A/N: This fic was inspired by the Diablo 3 video Tyrael's Sacrifice (Act 2). Also by a shitty unrecommendable self-insert HP fanfic whose author was an inhuman narcissist. Since I couldn't get past the scene where the narcissistic shit introduces himself to the Golden Trio, I thought to myself "why not insert a Good character instead of an Evil one?"

Incidentally, everything I'm writing in this fic about Good and Evil is either literally true or a fairly accurate metaphor for technical matters that are beyond mere human understanding.

As far as this being a Diablo cross, you can consider everything on that side completely AU. In particular, Tyrael was never the Archangel of Judgement (misnamed Justice) as in Diablo, but was the Archangel of REAL Justice. I took from Diablo everything I'm planning to and will spit on the rest.


	2. Lots of Calming Draughts

Hermione and Harry had decided to ditch the Welcoming Feast in favour of partaking of the Draught of Peace in the Infirmary. Unfortunately, they were waylaid by a twinkly-eyed ... something. A 'Decider, next of kin to a Dark Lord'? She'd need to ask Tyrael what that meant if they ever ran into him again. Which they probably would seeing how keen Tyrael had seemed to kill the very wizard standing right in front of them.

"Ah Harry and miss Granger, I couldn't help but notice you came in without your friend Mister Weasley and immediately left the Welcoming Feast. Is something wrong?"

Hermione Granger stared right in the eyes of her Headmaster and told him "We didn't see him on the train. I think he must have run away. We're very worried so we're going to the Infirmary for some Draught of Peace."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at her. "I see. Well, rest assured the staff will be investigating Mr. Weasley's disappearance. Do make sure you don't miss the Feast." and then the Headmaster turned around and let them go to the Infirmary.

They stood there in the corridor with bated breath for a minute just watching to make sure Dumbledore wouldn't be coming back for them.

"Hermione! You lied to Dumbledore!"

"Yes I did, Harry."

"Hermione, you lied to Dumbledore!"

Hermione threw him an impatient look. What was so difficult to understand?

"But he's Headmaster. And Chief Warlock and Supreme something."

Oh that. "An Angel is a Higher Authority, Harry. Of course they outrank a Supreme Mugwump."

That confused Harry a little bit. But then again, he'd never cared that much about authority so whatever worked for Hermione.

* * *

"Oh no dearie, Draught of Peace is for deeply traumatic events. Not for everyday worries and excitement but something serious like watching your friend die right in front of you."

"You don't say." Hermione remarked with a sickly voice.

* * *

It was on their way back to the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast with their veins pumping full of the maximum dosage of Calming Draught (and a few extra doses Harry had managed to palm in his pockets because Hermione wouldn't allow them to exceed that same maximum) that Harry finally broke down and started talking about what had happened.

"What are we going to do Hermione? Tyrael killed Ron!"

"Ronald deserved to die Harry. Tyrael said so."

"Are you sure that's how it works?"

"Yes Harry. It's just like overdue library books. People who don't bring back their library books on time get sent to meet a judge and then the judge sentences them to death and then they die."

Harry furrowed his brow in confusion. "I really don't think that's how it works."

Hermione informed him primly "It's how it should work. Every librarian I've talked to said so."

"I- I really don't think that's how it should work either." Harry told her hesitantly.

"Trust me on this Harry. I'm sure of it. That's exactly how it should work."

"I don't want anybody to die, Hermione."

At this Hermione stopped walking and looked at him. "Well some people deserve to die, Harry." she told him kindly.

"I- I'm not so sure about that."

"Well, what about someone who tries to kill you. Quirrel tried to kill you last year!"

He looked away from her.

Hermione was flabbergasted "It was self-defense!" she shouted at him.

Harry just stayed silent but switched to looking down at the floor.

"Oh Harry. You do deserve to live!" She moved to hug him but he stiffened up in her arms. After a full minute of not feeling him relax even a little bit, she grew awkward. Oh right, boys didn't like to hug. She let him go.

They resumed walking back to the Great Hall each lost in their own thoughts.

"Lots of people are going to die, aren't they?" he asked quietly.

"Yes Harry, they deserve to die."

"Umm, how are we going to handle it? I mean, just seeing Ron ..." he trailed off meaningfully.

Hermione stared off into nothingness. "Calming draughts Harry. Lots and lots of calming draughts."

* * *

A few days later.

'Lovable jesters, my arse.' Hermione thought.

"Stop being mean. Not everyone likes your jokes!" she told them.

"Au contraire! EVERYBODY loves our jokes! We are the jesters extraordinaire!"

"Oh yeah? Then how about that Hufflepuff girl in third year who ran away crying?"

"That? Pshaw, that was an accident. Totally unintentional."

"Uhuh, then what about Sally-Anne Perks breaking down in sobs? For two weeks!"

"Bah, she loved it! We didn't hear any complaints from her!"

Hermione grew appalled "She withdrew from Hogwarts!"

"Details, details. Besides, how do you know it had anything to do with us? Maybe she flunked her year-end exams."

"She was a First Year! NOBODY flunks first year! I checked!" she screamed at them in fury.

The twins just looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

Now overwhelmed with disgust, Hermione sneered at them "You'll be next!"

At that, the twins turned skeptical gazes at her "We would never withdraw from Hogwarts. It's our home!"

Suddenly abashed, Hermione backpedaled "I didn't mean that."

Now the twins' skeptical gazes turned suspicious "Oh? And just what DID you mean?"

Hermione searched desperately for a way out of the trap she'd pushed herself into. Aha. "I meant only that if you don't give up your bullying ways, someone's going to bully YOU until you run away from Hogwarts too."

The twins adopted offended looks "Us? Bullying? We're pranksters! And we know how to take a joke! And we're the best pranksters in Hogwarts, nobody could hope to outprank us!" but then they grew perplexed "Besides, you said that Sally-Anne Perks just withdrew from Hogwarts, she didn't run away from home like our little brother Ron did."

"Right, I forgot that." she was getting better at lying to monsters. So much better now. It must be all the practice.

* * *

"... in pursuit of an irresistible research opportunity abroad."

While everyone save the Slytherins cheered Snape's departure, Harry and Hermione stayed conspicuously silent. Hermione even threw a sympathetic look at the Slytherins. Unexpectedly, this did not go unnoticed. A couple of twin redheaded fourth years sidled up to them on the bench.

"So what's the dirt? It looks to us like you two know more than the staff is telling."

Hermione breathed out a huff. "If you must know, the Slytherins think Professor Snape is dead."

"Really? Where did you hear that?"

"From Draco Malfoy. He told- well he screamed it at us- well at Harry. He screamed about how Harry would pay for his Godfather's death."

"Really?" the twins drawled. "Sounds to us like someone's hunting the Slytherins! Is it just Snape or is it open season on anyone Evil?!" they inquired, intrigued.

"You think someone's hunting Slytherin House?" Hermione was confused.

"We can only hope! After all, Slytherin House is Evil, very Evil!" they declared joyfully!

"Yeah, evil." Hermione told them unconvincingly.

"Very, very Evil!" the twins responded, obliviously happy.

"You don't think it's just a little ambitious to kill Professor Snape? And more than a little cunning to get away with it?"

"Oh hey, you're right! It must be one of the snakes who did away with their Head of House. They're doing a great job hiding it though."

Hermione remembered the Angel who'd strangled Ron to death single-handedly with His arm outstretched right in front of two eye-witnesses. Hermione remembered the Vision she saw, of the Angel striking down the Lord of Angels, his *brother*, all so He could sacrifice Himself. Then she silently shook her head at the twins' stupidity.

Hermione frowned. Did Evil have anything to do with stupidity?

* * *

A/N: Before anybody mentions the Weasley clock, what makes you think Molly would tell her widdle babies of Ronnie's death? What makes you think it was her decision not to tell her children of Ron's death? What makes you think she remembers seeing Ron's handle on the clock point to 'Dead'? Dumbledore knows, and what he knows, he tells no one. And it would be oh so convenient for him if others who happen to know "forget". Especially since he can't be blamed if Ronald just ran away.


	3. Systematic Misconceptions

Harry had just lost the fight of his life with Dudley's gang. As usual, Dudley had beaten on him and tied him up. Now his aunt Petunia was going to cook him up for Dudley to eat. But Dudley didn't want to wait and just grabbed one of Harry's feet to eat raw. That's when Harry started thrashing. Everything suddenly became very dark and blurred but Harry was hopped up on adrenaline. And Dudley's iron grip on his right ankle didn't let up or ease his panic any.

"Calm yourself child." Wait, that didn't sound like Dudley's voice. Or anyone else's voice he knew. What was going on? He needed his glasses. Putting them on he saw Tyrael's form in the candlelight, sitting on his bed near his right ankle. Presumably, Tyrael had gripped it to scare him. No, there's no way Tyrael knew about his nightmares, that anyone knew about his nightmares. Tyrael probably just did it to wake him up.

Harry just waited for Tyrael to tell him what he wanted.

"I have been performing reconnaissance," here Harry grew confused "that's scouting, inside and outside of the castle to find all monsters nearby and assess their strengths. I've no wish for them to scatter before they can be slain. While doing so, I've been listening to rumours and gossip. I heard the strangest rumour about you Harry Potter. Apparently, you were a mere babe when you slew a Dark Lord, barely able to walk yourself, and yet managed to achieve this heroic feat without a single weapon. Preposterous of course, it would take an incredibly dim mind to credit the story as anything but artifice." now Harry was even more confused "That's make-believe Harry. So I came to see if you would enlighten me as to what really happened that day you slew a Dark Lord."

That wasn't a question Harry wanted to answer. But apparently that was irrelevant because Tyrael just nodded his head,

"I can see you don't wish to talk about the subject child. It's alright and not unexpected. Perhaps another time."

Well, that was more than a little creepy. Maybe he should ask his own questions then,

"Did you kill Snape?"

"The torturer and mad scientist? Oh yes. Second only to Dumbledore in sheer Evil so far as I've seen in this wizarding community."

"Are you going to kill more people?"

"Only the most Evil, Harry. If I tried to eradicate all Evil large and small, not only would there be nothing left for heroes to slay but I would never succeed in slaying the most powerful. No, I must prioritize and concentrate my efforts on the larger. The Hedonist on the train I slew was something of a special case. He was connected to you and Evil Ones attaching themselves to you is not something I will tolerate. You're still too young and vulnerable to deal with them yourself."

Harry's mind boggled. "You want me to kill everyone evil who gets near me?"

Tyrael smiled slightly. "In time Harry, in time. Though in truth, not for many years. Your friend Hermione on the other hand ..."

Harry's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Are you saying I can't kill anyone but that *Hermione* can?"

Tyrael grew amused at the child's befuddlement. "Angel-taught mortals are the deadliest by far, Harry. I know you slew a Dark Lord already but I know also it was luck and not skill. More importantly, you're simply not ready" and Tyrael tapped Harry on his forehead then his breastbone "here and here, to become a Slayer. Though learning from an Angel would mature you rapidly. You would become wise beyond your years."

"So you're going to teach me?"

Tyrael was taken aback "Do you have need of my teachings?"

Harry hemmed and hawed for a while until Tyrael interrupted,

"I can see that you do. And I already know why. This Dark Lord you slew must have had many followers. Dark Lords are like that, Harry. They are cowards whose job is to torture their underlings into murdering and terrorizing for them. The great difference between a Dark Lord and their underlings is the underlings, or the lieutenants in any case, act on a national or continental level whereas the Dark Lord seeks to enshroud all Humanity under their darkness. So long as you remain in the country of the Dark Lord's greatest strength you will remain in danger from his more fanatical or diabolical underlings. Had you left the country to one untouched by this particular Dark Lord's taint, you would have been safe, they would not have followed you. But this was hardly your decision so yes, you will need my teachings child and I shall provide them, gladly."

Harry thought he understood the gist of that speech. The important part is Tyrael would teach him to be stronger so he would never need to kill again. Like Dudley in the schoolyard, when you were big and strong, you didn't need to throw a single punch to scare people off. The thought of never having to kill again made him happy. So happy he yawned.

Now Tyrael let his amusement show in a broad grin. "I will let you sleep child. Good night to you." and with that he walked off down the stairs.

Harry pondered Tyrael's visit for a minute before coming to a decision. He needed to talk to Hermione about this before it made any sense to him. In the morning. After he'd had a good night's sleep.

* * *

The next day, finally alone in the library, Harry told Hermione

"I saw Tyrael last night and we talked a bit."

"What? When?"

"In the dorm, he woke me up in the middle of the night. We had a long talk but it was pretty confusing."

Hermione was puzzled "But Harry, that's the boy's dorm. Well, I suppose he could be a boy, maybe. But _he's not a Gryffindor_! Non-Gryffindors aren't allowed in the dorms past curfew. How could he be in the dorms in the middle of the night?"

Harry was surprised for a moment. As used as he was to Hermione's sense of priorities ... no, he was still surprised. It was ongoing surprise really. He made sure to speak slowly,

"I think you're missing the point here."

Hermione blinked a few times before catching herself "Right, Tyrael was in your dorm and ... you had a long conversation that was ... confusing." She nodded slowly, "Tell me everything about it. Everything."

Harry spent a good 15 minutes explaining his conversation with Tyrael to Hermione. Then another 30 minutes answering questions about it, dredging up every scrap and every little detail he could remember. Frankly, by the end of Hermione's questioning, he no longer cared what his conversation with Tyrael had been about. A good thing surely since Harry had forgotten a great deal overnight and he'd even forgotten what he'd forgotten.

"Right Harry, I think I got it." which statement caused Harry Potter to sigh in relief.

He stared at Hermione while she was thinking. And thinking. And thinking. Five minutes later, he could feel his curiosity rising again despite himself. So he asked her,

"How come Tyrael didn't know about all the Boy Who Lived stuff?"

"That's a good question Harry but the answer is rather obvious. Tyrael is an Angel. Obviously he doesn't care about the gossip going on in the Wizarding World. He's above that sort of thing. And now that he's heard the gossip, he thinks Wizards and Witches are just idiots who don't know what they're talking about. And since Dumbledore is the Leader of the Wizarding World, it's obvious that Tyrael is right. Wizards and Witches really are idiots who don't know what they're talking about."

"But couldn't he tell what had happened with Voldemort from me?"

"Did you tell him Harry?"

"No, I didn't."

"So, how could he have learned what had happened from you without you telling him?"

"Well, back on the train, he seemed to know things. About Ron and about you and about me even. It's like he knew everything."

"Oh he didn't know everything Harry. He was just looking at our souls. It's really obvious. He's an Angel so he can read our souls. But he can't read our minds. He can't see what we're thinking or our memories, only if we're Good or Evil."

Harry pondered that carefully before wondering,

"But why didn't he use that lelimancy thing you talked about, to read minds?"

"Legilimancy Harry. And the answer to that one is obvious too. Mind reading is Evil. Tyrael didn't read your mind because it's an Evil thing to do and since he's Good, he would never do that."

Harry was skeptical. "Are you sure it's not just because he's bad at it?"

Hermione huffed. "Really Harry. Tyrael is an Angel, an *Immortal*, he's probably thousands of years old. There's probably nothing he's bad at, nothing he can't do. Except Evil of course since Angels can't be Evil."

"And you're sure there are no good mind readers? That they're all bad?"

Hermione took the question unusually seriously. Were there any Good mind readers? Could telepaths be Good? She remembered George Orwell's 1984 with a shudder. No, the telepaths in 1984 were definitely Evil. She didn't even want to remember that book, it had given her nightmares, but she forced herself for just a little bit and shuddered again. Oh yes, totally Evil.

Were there any other telepaths? She remembered watching Doctor Who. Oh the Doctor wasn't a telepath, but her Mum had told her that in a previous incarnation he had been, just a little bit. And the Doctor was Good, obviously. Everyone liked him so he must be so. But then again, for some reason, Hermione had never managed to become a fan. The Doctor too obviously enjoyed creating messes and he never cleaned up after himself. No, she was no fan of him. But maybe, maybe his being slightly telepathic was why he was slightly evil.

Hermione finally answered Harry, slowly and carefully "I don't know Harry, but ... but I don't think mind readers can be Good, not really."

"So if we ever meet someone who reads our minds then we'll know they're bad, right?"

"Exactly."

They spent a couple minutes in companionable silence until Harry brought up another topic,

"Hermione, you said that Angels can read souls, right? They can tell who's good and bad?"

"Yes I did say that. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it just reminds me of something Voldemort told me last year. Back with the whole Quirrel thing. He said 'there is no good or evil then something something' I don't really remember the rest because I wasn't paying attention."

Hermione hmmed, "That's exactly the opposite of what Tyrael said and what he can do. And Voldemort was a Dark Lord and he was Evil. I think ... I think it means only Good people can understand Good and Evil. No wait, Tyrael does more than understand Good and Evil, he sees it in our souls. Maybe Evil people can't understand Good and Evil because they have no souls. My mum and dad always said their lawyer is a soulless leech. So Tyrael must have seen your soul and he must have seen Ron is Evil because he didn't have a soul." Hermione nodded and smiled, confident she had figured it out.

Harry was stricken "Ron didn't have a soul?"

"Obviously not since he was Evil. Did Ronald ever do anything Good, Harry?"

"Well, what about the time we went to rescue you from the troll?"

"But did Ronald do that because he felt bad for me or because he wanted to look good?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer but Hermione interrupted him.

"Think carefully Harry. Did Ronald ever care about your feelings? Did he ever understand how much you hated your scar? Or the night your parents died? Or your being the Boy Who Lived?"

Harry snapped his mouth shut and furrowed his forehead in thought. He didn't know. Ron always wanted to look good, he always wanted to be better or at least not-worse than him. And Harry let him. What did winning or being first matter compared to having friends?

Hermione snapped him out of his growing funk by declaring "I think we should meet Luna."

Harry was confused. "Why Luna? What's she ... oh, because she was there on the train. What do you think she was doing there?"

"I don't know Harry but we're going to find out." she said with determination.

* * *

A/N: Is anyone wondering why Harry treats the killer of his "first friend" in such a friendly manner? Well, he was just woken up in the middle of the night. He's sleepy and groggy and the situation seems more than a little surreal to him. Incidentally ... no, Harry doesn't remember Tyrael's speech about the nature of Dark Lords come morning. He mostly didn't understand it to begin with and it's very difficult to remember random things.

Has anyone ever wondered why Hermione Granger read her textbooks 5 times? It's because her memory is NOT photographic. And even if she reads something multiple times, it doesn't mean she understands it. Hermione certainly did NOT understand what George Orwell's 1984 was about when she was 6 the only time she read it. Only that it was horrible. That's why she only read it once. And that's why she remembers telescreens and interrogators as telepaths.

Also, Hermione Granger is NOT logical in canon so neither is she here. She only BELIEVES IN logic, which is why she is very methodical, thorough and comprehensive. This is not an unalloyed good thing and in no way substitutes for logic.


End file.
